The Perrigo Company (NASDAQ: PRGO)(TASE: PRGO) announced today that it has received approval from the U. S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to market over-the-counter (OTC) coated nicotine polacrilex gum USP, 2 mg (mint) and 4 mg (mint).
The product will be marketed under store brand labels and is comparable to GlaxoSmithKline's Nicorette® Fresh Mint™ coated gum, which is an aid to smoking cessation. "Perrigo is committed to providing retail customers key new products for their store brand programs, and this approval is consistent with our strategy to invest in new product development. We are pleased with this important addition to our store brand nicotine replacement therapy product offering, even though some sales may come at the expense of our uncoated gum products," said John T. Hendrickson, Executive Vice President and General Manager, Perrigo Consumer Healthcare. Retail sales for Nicorette coated gum were approximately $100 million in the past 12 months. First shipments are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2006.
The Perrigo Company is a leading global healthcare supplier and the world's largest manufacturer of over-the-counter (OTC) pharmaceutical and nutritional products for the store brand market. Store brand products are sold by food, drug, mass merchandise, dollar store and club store retailers under their own labels. The Company also develops, manufactures and markets prescription generic drugs, active pharmaceutical ingredients and consumer products, and operates manufacturing facilities in the United States, Israel, United Kingdom, Mexico, Germany and China. Visit Perrigo on the Internet (http://www.perrigo.com/ ).
Note: Certain statements in this press release are forward-looking statements within the meaning of Section 21E of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934, as amended, and are subject to the safe harbor created thereby. These statements relate to future events or the Company's future financial performance and involve known and unknown risks, uncertainties and other factors that may cause the actual results, levels of activity, performance or achievements of the Company or its industry to be materially different from those expressed or implied by any forward-looking statements. In some cases, forward-looking statements can be identified by terminology such as "may," "will," "could," "would," "should," "expect," "plan," "anticipate," "intend," "believe," "estimate," "predict," "potential" or other comparable terminology. Please see the "Cautionary Note Regarding Forward-Looking Statements" on pages 33 - 41 of the Company's Form 10-K for the year ended June 25, 2005, as well as the Company's subsequent filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, for a discussion of certain important factors that relate to forward-looking statements contained in this press release. Although the Company believes that the expectations reflected in these forward-looking statements are reasonable, it can give no assurance that such expectations will prove to be correct. Unless otherwise required by applicable securities laws, the Company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements, whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise.
SOURCE: Perrigo Company
CONTACT: Ernest J. Schenk, Manager, Investor Relations and Communication
of Perrigo Company, +1-269-673-9212, E-mail: eschenk@perrigo.com
Web site: http://www.perrigo.com/